If you or a loved one have been in an accident and suffered an injury, you may be feeling angry about what happened and confused as to how to proceed. You want to focus your attention on your injuries while also looking for a way to receive the compensation you deserve.
Filing a Personal Injury Claim
When someone suffers an injury due to an accident, it follows that someone else might be legally responsible for it. The insurance company of the responsible party pays the injured individual for medical bills, loss of income, pain and suffering, and other items.
To file the claim, your personal injury lawyer will have to deal with the other party, their insurance company, and their own lawyer. Through a court session with the purpose of finding who is at fault or through a settlement between the parties before the lawsuit is filed, the case may be resolved.
Is there a Statute of Limitations to file a personal injury claim?
The time limit to file a personal injury lawsuit, referred to as the Statute of Limitations, vary from state to state and starts to run from the time the injury took place. In Missouri, for example, it is required that you file your claim within five years. Should you not discover the injury until some time later, the Discovery Rule allows the time to start running from the point when you become aware of the injury.
Your personal injury lawyer will give you the specifics, should your case be against a government agency or its employee. Having a Statute of Limitations in place prevents a victim from threatening the other party with a lawsuit indefinitely.
What items can be included in a personal injury claim?
The purpose of filing a personal injury claim is to receive compensation for expenses that you may already have incurred and others that you will have to cover in the future. These may be medical bills for treatment, rehabilitation, surgery, and more. You may also wish to get damages for future medical expenses if you know you will require further treatment for your injuries.
You may also seek compensation for loss of income and future wage losses if you are still unable to return to work. Also, pain and suffering and emotional distress, as well as damages to cover the expenses associated with physical disfigurement or disability that are the result of the injury.
What is the average payout for a personal injury claim?
There are as many types of accidents as there are personal injuries. And your own personal injury case will most likely have unique facts. Knowing this, it may still be useful to have some idea as to how much personal injury claims payout when you are trying to estimate how much your own case may be worth.
Based on the most common outcomes of personal injury claims, almost two-thirds of them result in a settlement and only about 4% come through a trial. As far as payouts, most range between $3,000 and $25,000. Just about a quarter of cases received over $25,000 with an overall average falling around $52,000.
Personal injury lawyer Eslinger recommends that you consult with your lawyer when estimating the possible payout amount of your own claim.
